Head of Science in Craigavon

PERSON SPECIFICATION NOTES TO JOB APPLICANTS

You must clearly demonstrate on your application form under each question, how, and to what extent you meet the required criteria as failure to do so may result in you not being shortlisted. You should clearly demonstrate this for both the essential and desirable criteria, where relevant.

You must demonstrate how you meet the criteria by the closing date for applications, unless the criteria state otherwise. The stage in the process when the criteria will be measured is outlined in the table below.

Shortlisting will be carried out on the basis of the essential criteria set out in Section 1 below, using the information provided by you on your application form. Please note that the Selection Panel reserves the right to shortlist only those applicants that it believes most strongly meet the criteria for the role. In the event of an excessive number of applications, the Selection Panel also reserves the right to apply any desirable criteria as outlined in Section 3 at shortlisting, in which case these will be applied in the order listed. It is important therefore that you also clearly demonstrate on your application form how you meet any desirable criteria.

SECTION 1 - ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

• Qualifications/ Professional Membership
  • Qualifications must be obtained at the date of taking up appointment
  • Hold a teaching qualification which meets the requirements for recognition to teach in grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland
  • Hold a degree or equivalent Level 6 qualification which has prepared the applicant to teach Science as his/her main subject
• Experience
  • Minimum of 5 years’ demonstrable experience of teaching Science at Key Stage 3 to achieve positive learning outcomes
  • Demonstrable experience of using a range of teaching strategies to meet the learning needs of pupils
  • Demonstrable experience of using digital media/technology to enhance teaching and learning
• Other
  • Be registered with the General Teaching Council for Northern Ireland (GTCNI) before taking up post

SECTION 2 - ESSENTIAL CRITERIA

• Knowledge
  • Knowledge of Northern Ireland Curriculum
  • Knowledge and understanding of Safeguarding and Child Protection policy/practice
  • Knowledge of the SEND Code of Practice
  • Knowledge of a range of teaching strategies to meet the learning needs of pupils
  • Knowledge of Information Technology systems such as digital classroom tools/media and the use of tablets/mobile technologies
  • Knowledge of current assessment methods to inform teaching
• Skills / Abilities
  • Effective teaching and classroom management skills to inspire and challenge pupils to raise achievement
  • Proven ability to provide a supportive, inclusive learning environment
  • Ability to work collaboratively to promote positive relationships with pupils, colleagues, parents and the wider community
  • Ability to work as an effective member of a team, and to motivate self and others
• Values Orientation / Identification with School Ethos
  • Evidence of how your experience and approach to work reflect the School’s Values/ethos.

SECTION 3 - DESIRABLE CRITERIA

• Qualifications and Experience
  • Minimum of 8 years’ demonstrable experience of teaching Science at Key Stage 3 to achieve positive learning outcomes
  • Demonstrable experience of assisting with and/or co-ordinating an area of the curriculum in particular Science or Chemistry.
  • Demonstrable experience of delivering Chemistry at KS3
  • Demonstrable experience of monitoring pupil progress, performance, target setting and intervention
  • Demonstrable experience of using a range of effective classroom approaches to provide support and challenge children and young people of all abilities, including those with Special Educational Needs
  • Demonstrable experience of assisting with Extra-curricular provision.

DISCLOSURE OF CRIMINAL BACKGROUND

The Safeguarding Vulnerable Groups (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 defines working directly with children or young people or in specified places as ‘regulated activity’. In the event that you are recommended for appointed to a post that involves ‘regulated activity’, the Education Authority will be required to undertake an Enhanced Disclosure of Criminal Background. Please note that you WILL be expected to meet the cost of an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate.

APPLICANT GUIDANCE NOTES

To view the applicant guidance notes, please click here. To learn about the many great benefits of joining the Education Authority, click here. The Education Authority is an Equal Opportunities Employer.

JOB DESCRIPTION

PROFESSIONAL DUTIES OF A TEACHER

TEACHERS’ (TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF EMPLOYMENT) REGULATIONS (NORTHERN IRELAND) 1987 Schedule 3 Regulation 51)

1. Planning

• Planning and preparing courses and lessons;
• Teaching, according to their educational needs, the pupils assigned to him/her, including the setting and marking of work to be carried out by the pupils in school and elsewhere;
• Assessing, recording and reporting on the development, progress and attainment of pupils.

2. General

• Promoting the general progress and well-being of individual pupils and of any class or group of pupils assigned to him/her;
• Providing advice and guidance to pupils on educational and social matters and on their further education and future careers including information about sources of more expert advice on specific questions, making relevant records and reports;
• Making records of and reports on the personal and social needs of pupils except in instances where to do so might be regarded as compromising a teacher’s own position;
• Communicating and consulting with the parents of pupils;
• Communicating and co-operating with such persons or bodies outside the school as may be approved by the employing authority and the Board of Governors;
• Participating in meetings arranged for any of the purposes described above.

3. Assessment/Reporting

• Providing or contributing to oral and written assessments, reports and references relating to individual pupils and groups of pupils except in instances where to do so might be regarded as compromising a teacher’s own position.

4. Staff Development/Professional Development

• Participating, if required, in any scheme of staff development and performance review;
• Reviewing from time to time his/her methods of teaching and programmes of work;
• Participating in arrangements for his/her further training and professional development as a teacher.
• Advising and co-operating with the Principal and other teachers (or any one or more of them) on the preparation and development of courses of study, teaching materials, teaching programmes, methods of teaching and assessment and pastoral arrangements.

5. Discipline/Health and Safety

• Maintaining good order and discipline among pupils in accordance with the policies of the employing authority and safeguarding their health and safety both when they are authorised to be on the school premises and when they are engaged in authorised school activities elsewhere.
• Participating in meetings at the school which relate to the curriculum for the school or the administration or organisation of the school, including pastoral arrangements.

6. Public Examinations

• Participating in arrangements for preparing pupils for public examinations and in assessing pupils for the purposes of such examinations; recording and reporting such assessments; and participating in arrangements for pupils’ presentation for and supervision during such examination.

7. Review and Development of Management Activities/Administration

• Contributing to the selection for appointment and professional development of other teachers, including the induction and assessment of probationary teachers;
• Co-ordinating or managing the work of other teachers;
• Taking such part as may be required of him/her in the review, development and management of activities relating to the curriculum, organisation and pastoral functions of the school.
• Participating in administrative and organisational tasks related to such duties as described above, including the management or supervision of persons providing support for the teachers in the school and the ordering and allocation of equipment and materials.

8. Number of days/Hours of work

• A full-time teacher, other than a teacher employed in a residential establishment, shall be available for work on 195 days in any year of which not more than 190 days should involve teaching children in a classroom situation;
• A teacher, other than a teacher employed in a residential establishment, shall be available to perform such duties at such times and such places as may reasonably be specified by the Principal, or where he/she is employed by a Board on terms under which he/she is not assigned to any one school by the Board or the Principal of any school in which he/she may for the time being be required to work as a teacher, for 1,265 hours in any year exclusive of time spent off school premises in preparing and marking lessons and time spent travelling to and from the place of work;
• A teacher may not be required to teach as distinct from supervise children in a classroom situation for more than 25 hours in any week in a primary or special school and 23.5 hours in any week in a secondary school;
• Unless employed under a separate contract as a mid-day supervisor, a teacher shall not be required to undertake mid-day supervision;
• Subject to paragraph (f) all teachers shall be required to have a break of at least 30 minutes between the hours of 12 noon and 2.00 pm;
• Teachers in nursery schools and nursery units in primary schools shall be required to have a break of at least 30 minutes between the hours of 12 noon and 2.30 pm;
• For the purposes of this paragraph, a ‘year’ means a period of 12 months commencing on 31st July and a ‘week’ means a period of 7 days commencing on a Sunday.

9. Staff cover

• Supervising and teaching any pupils whose teacher is not available provided that:
• In schools with an average daily enrolment of 222 or less, in primary 1 and primary 2 classes in schools with an average daily enrolment greater than 222 pupils and in nursery classes in primary schools a teacher other than a supply teacher shall not be required to provide such cover;
• In schools with an average daily enrolment greater than 222 pupils a teacher other than a supply teacher shall not be required to provide such cover after the second day on which a teacher, other than a teacher of primary 1 or primary 2 class or of a nursery class in a primary school, is absent or otherwise not available, or from the first day if the fact that the teacher would be absent or otherwise not available for a period exceeding 2 days was known to and agreed by the employing authority in advance.

10. Head of Department Duties:

• To establish and communicate a vision for the subject in the school
• To deliver development plans for the subject throughout the school
• To agree targets and goals within the department that relate to school targets and goals
• To keep the department up to date on recent trends in the teaching of the departmental subjects
• To monitor the quality of teaching and learning outcomes in the subject area, including through target setting, evaluation and action planning.
• To monitor pupil achievement and to evaluate the department's achievements through the use of value-added data and benchmarking, including PTi Science
• To ensure that the School's teaching and learning policy is fully implemented by the department
• To take the lead in developing personalised learning, collaborative learning in school, and between schools and assessment for learning
• To ensure that all members of the department have up to date information on subject specifications
• To liaise with examining bodies and DE/EA on the implementation of new subject specifications and curriculum content
• To keep the Principal and the senior management team informed on the implications of new Subject Specifications
• To ensure that the aims and goals of numeracy, literacy and ICT are embedded in teaching and learning in the subject area and work with relevant staff including SENCo to ensure that teaching in the department meets pupils’ needs
• To ensure that a knowledge-rich Key Stage 3 curriculum is developed and embedded in departmental schemes of work
• To ensure that other cross-curricular themes are appropriately embedded in teaching and learning in the subject area
• To identify the training and development needs of department staff (Teaching and non-teaching) in relation to departmental and school development plans
• To develop effective working relationships within the departmental team and between the team, other teachers and management
• To support the work of all members of the team and to value their contributions
• To assist in the deployment of staff involved in teaching the subject
• To develop resources for teaching the subject and to ensure that the learning environment across the department is safe, attractive and stimulating
• To take responsibility for the Science rooms and for all equipment
• To manage financial resources efficiently and effectively ensuring value for money, ordering relevant resources, equipment and materials and taking responsibility for the allocation of the department’s finances
• To develop, review and regularly update relevant departmental policies, schemes of work, departmental handbook
• To attend relevant professional development courses and organise staff to attend relevant courses including the Community of Lifesavers programme
• To submit minutes of department meetings to SLT.

This job description will be subject to review in light of changing circumstances and is not intended to be rigid and inflexible but should be regarded as providing guidelines within which the individual works. Other duties of a similar nature and appropriate to the grade may be assigned from time to time. In accordance with Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act (1998), the post-holder is expected to promote good relations, equality of opportunity and pay due regard for equality legislation at all times.